Mnemonic
by kaminari chou
Summary: Memory is fleeting, but true friendships should last longer. ... Right? An ominous prophecy foretells the past coming to haunt the present. These heroes will need all the strength they can muster. ALWAYS ACCEPTING OCS!
1. OO1: Empty Thoughts

Hey there! Here's an OC-only Percy Jackson based story. Rated T for language and violence. May become darker. First Percy Jackson fanfic, please be kind. :D

DISCLAIMER: I do not own anything by my OCs.

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><p><em>Beep. Beep. Beep.<em>

"... Up."

_Beep. Be- SLAP!_

"I SAID, WAKE UP!"

The voice was unfamiliar. The room was unfamiliar. The pain- it was nothing. The hand was unfamiliar. The bed was unfamiliar.

Dark blue eyes narrowed in anticipation of another strike. Unconsciously, his body tensed, ready to avoid a blow.

But the woman took no notice of it. She had a distinct, bird-like look to her, and continued her yelling undeterred. "... After giving so much up to help a useless lump like you, this is what I get? You little shit, you better get your ass up today. I don't care if you couldn't move last night. At least we don't have a doctor's fee to worry about."

He looked down to his hand and flexed it experimentally. His body felt weird. Had he been sick or something? Taking no notice of the woman, he continued to try to remember what had happened.

"... Listening to me?" The woman's grating voice cut through his thoughts, and she raised her hand to strike.

A spark lit somewhere in himself, and before he knew it, his body acted on his own. Arm up, grab the wrist of your opponent, especially if they're weaker. Turn, and use yourself as a lever. Let gravity do the rest, but follow up quickly.

It was as if his body had a mind of it's own. He didn't realize what he was doing, but he had the woman pinned on the floor and had growled into her ear, "I don't know who the hell you are, or what the hell you want. Leave me alone."

With a shove, he pushed himself off the ground. It took a couple of seconds for him to orient himself. A moment passed, and then an expression of shock crossed his face. Had he done that? Where was he? Thinking about all the basics, he realized that he didn't even know _who_ he was. Or how old he was, or anything about him. He stood there, confused, for another moment or so, and then pushed open the door.

Chaotic feelings of panic were beginning to take hold of him. Dammit, why couldn't he remember anything? As he burst out of the room, he was greeted with a very dull, lackluster entryway. A man stood before him, glowering down at the boy. "What did you do, you pathetic insect?"

It only took a glace behind him to send the man into a rage. "YOU-! FOR YOUR SEVENTEEN MISERABLE YEARS, YOU'VE JUST BEEN A PATHETIC WEAKLING. WE GAVE YOU A HOME, AND A BED TO REST IN, AND THIS IS HOW YOU REPAY US?" The man's face was turning an amusingly bright red by then as he screamed at the boy.

It was strange how, when he was in a tense situation, he seemed to calm down. Like he was made for these situations. An icy gaze drifted across the man's red face. "I don't know who you are," he stated, "but get out of my face."

"Or what?" The man sneered, taking a menacing step forward, "don't tell me- you'll beat me up like you beat up my dainty wife?"

And then, he made a mistake.

Raising a fist, the man took a swing at him. Time seemed to slow.

_Don't tense up, relax._ Who had told him that? _Be like liquid water, or like a cloud in that sky you love so much._ His body reacted, too fast for his mind to follow. _Scatter, and don't let yourself be caught._ His body dropped, and the fist sailed above his head. The man's face contorted into an expression of anger and shock. _And then- strike. You know what to do. You'll feel it._ Right. Strike. His leg shot out from under him and knocked the man's leg away, making him fall.

In one fluid motion, he pressed one hand on the back of the man's neck and the other held his previously raised arm behind him.

"Okay, okay! I - I give up!" The man's angry tone turned into a pleading one. "H-Hey, I said stop, boy. BOY! I SAID ST- OW!" He wasn't thinking, only reacting. He pressed the man's arm harder into his back. "BOY- ADRIEN!"

… Adrien? Was that- was that his name? He blinked, returning to the current situation. He allowed his arms to relax, and backed away. Adrien, huh? Not a bad name, he supposed. As soon as the man was up, he began to shout insults.

"WE SHOULD HAVE LEFT YOU IN THE ORPHANAGE. WE SHOULDN'T HAVE OFFERED TO FOSTER YOU. YOU ARE NO CHILD OF GOD, YOU DEMON! YOU UNGRATEFUL LITTLE COCKROACH, MAY GOD BANISH YOU SO YOU NEVER WALK THIS EARTH AGAIN. OH, DID THAT GET YOU? I BET YOUR MOTHE-"

The man's insults turned into silent gasps of pain as Adrien silenced him with a vicious kick between the legs. Why did that specific comment make him so angry? Clenching his fists so hard they bled, Adrien stormed out of the house, slamming the door behind him so hard he broke one of the already rusty hinges.

It was chilly outside, but Adrien was too mad to care. He had a white dress shirt on, with vertical, dotted navy blue lines. It was a light cotton, and didn't protect much from the weather. His black pants were flexible enough for him to run in, and his gray Converse were comfortable. Without a set destination, he ran down stairs of the shabby apartment building.

When he burst out of the building, he squinted into the light for a moment, trying to readjust his eyesight.

"Oi! Adrien!"

A male voice called out from his left. A boy around his age with shaggy, curly brown hair ran up to him with an odd, lopsided gait. Adrien glanced him over with a confused look. He didn't move forward, staying his ground but ready to flee if needed.

"Dude, what's with that look?" The boy walked forwards slowly, a concerned look on his face. "You okay, man? Something up?"

Adrien gave him a confused look. "Who are you? Do you know me?"

"Dude," the boy said again, much to Adrien's confusion, "duh. We've only been friends for, what, three years?"

Yet another confused frown made its way onto Adrien's face. He slowly shook his head, "I have no idea what you're talking about."

The other boy looked just as confused now. He scratched his head, something darker poking out. "Do you have amnesia or something, man? That's so weird. Well, I guess I should start explainin-"

Adrien skittered backwards from the building, towards the other boy. He looked on in confusion. Staring at the doorway, Adrien was alert, wary of what might come. "Gods, what's wrong with you?" The boy asked, "it's just a door. You just came out of there."

But he stopped short when a large snake shot out of the door, splintering the wood. Adrien's body threw itself down, rolling out of the way. The other boy had done the same, though it was notably clumsier. Adrien jumped up, but before he could do anything, the boy yelled out, "wait! Don't touch it!"

In response to Adrien's confused look, he pushed himself off the ground and kept explaining, "they're called Basiliskos, this is going to sound really strange, but they're monsters! Don't touch them or get in the way of their breath!"

Adrien looked confused, but lunged out of the way as the foot long snake reared up again and attacked. "Thanks, I think, but why?"

The snake flew past them and hit a tree. The tree withered, turning a dead brown. As it breathed on the grass, the grass also died. Adrien didn't need an answer. "So," he called instead, "what do we do about it?"

"Nothing!" The boy called back, but then stuck his fingers in his mouth to make a loud whistle. "Aria! We need some help here!"

A flaming arrow shot down from the top of a nearby tree, intercepting the snake as it tried to lunge again. "I got it, Cedar!"

The snake looked up at the tree in anger, and then lunged upwards. With perfect aim, another flaming arrow shot straight down the snake's throat. With a hiss, it burst into ashes. Adrien simply stared on in shock.

A girl around his age with brown hair dropped from the tree and retrieved her arrows, carefully wrapping them in a cloth without touching them. She then stuck them back in her quiver and drew another one, holding it loosely in her bow. "No time for explanations, there are more coming." She quickly glanced around, and then gestured for the two boys to follow. "Come on! We'll get killed at this rate. We have to get you to safety," she said to Adrien, and then to the other boy, Cedar, she said, "and take off your feet, will you?"

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><p>To submit an OC, fill out this form! :3<p>

**Name:**

**Age:** (Demigods are generally around 14-19.)

**Gender:**

**Godly Parent:** (Please make sure that god/dess is not a virgin.)

**Weapon(s) and Power:** (No over-powered characters, please!)

**Brief History:**

**Brief Personality:**

**Appearance:**

**Love Interest:** (If you want one, please mention if your character likes males or females or both or other.)

**Are you alright with him/her dying?:**

**Opinion on the Gods:**

**Other:** (Anything else? :3)


	2. OO2: Battle on the Hill

Hey, everyone! Thank you all so much for the reviews. I feel so loved.3

Anyway, I'm going to slowly start introducing the characters I've chosen, so feel free to keep submitting- nothing's final yet!

Sorry this chapter is a bit slow and kinda long, a certain person kept pushing me to keep writing when I didn't know what to put… But I'm thankful. :D

Please read and review!

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><p>"Don't you have some sort of weapon or something?"<p>

Aria's voice was strained, shooting arrows while running wasn't exactly easy. She could only shoot one every long while, but each shot killed one or more Basiliskos. They would explode into a rain of ashes, or the fire would simply burn the serpent to a crisp. Although Aria's shots were dead-on, the snakes were overtaking them. There were still more coming.

"No- I don't think so!" Cedar yelled back. Only then did Adrien glance back to look at him- and did a double take. Were those... Hooves? Part of him felt surprised and confused, but to some part of him … well, it didn't seem all that strange. Adrien's contradicting feelings showed only through a confused frown at the hooves, and then kept running. "Sorry I couldn't tell you before, but-"

Adrien cut Cedar off, "doesn't matter. I wouldn't know if you had told me before anyway."

Aria gave Cedar a confused look, silently asking what was happening. Cedar gave a shrug, not exactly knowing himself.

"Can we just focus on not dying?" Adrien asked calmly, too calmly for what Cedar and Aria thought be normal.

Running through the streets of New York, all three teenagers were beginning to pant. "It's just a bit further!" Aria called back through heavy breaths.

After what seemed like too long, a grassy hill came into their view. Cedar breathed a sigh of relief, and seemed to have renewed energy. He seemed to pick up the pace, calling over his shoulder, "guys, I can see the pine tree from he-"

Adrien strained to look above the crest of the hill to see why Cedar had stopped talking so abruptly. Soon enough, he approached the source of the voice, only to see a Basiliskos wrapped around Cedar's neck. His face was turning an unsightly shade of blue as his oxygen was cut off.

"Cedar!" Aria called out, shock in her voice.

In one fluid movement, Adrien turned around to face her, "can I borrow one of those? Thanks." Before she had a chance to respond, he took one of her arrows and darted forward towards Cedar. The snake hissed, and took a strike at him. Adrien ducked, letting his instincts take over. With the bronze-tipped arrow, he stabbed upwards and skewered the snake's head. Pivoting on his back foot, Adrien swung the arrow and flung the Basiliskos away from Cedar.

As Cedar began to fall, Adrien caught his arm. Where the Basiliskos had been wrapped around his neck was a band of dead looking, black skin. The color was spreading quickly. Cedar's breathing was shallow and ragged. Adrien looked up as Aria approached with a worried look. "Isn't there anything we can do?"

Bending down to kneel beside Cedar, Aria paused for a moment, examining Cedar's wound. Her light brown eyes had a sad light to them as they examined the discoloration. "No... There's no antidote for Basiliskos poison." She coughed softly, trying to keep her voice steady. "The least I can do is take his pain away."

Adrien gave her a questioning look. How was she going to do that? Unless she had some sort of power … Why did he think that right away? He shook his head lightly, and then nodded to her, a silent thanks.

Clearing her throat, Aria began to speak, a strange sort of chant in rhyme. "His fight may be in vain, but release him from his pain. For a gentle passage I pray, on this day of dismay." As she spoke, a gentle golden-yellow light glowed from her hand that she placed over Cedar's neck. As Adrien looked on, Cedar visibly seemed to grow more relaxed.

Adrien tensed, sneaking a glance behind him. He could see far too many yellow eyes looking at them from the gloom of sunset. He tightened his grip on the borrowed arrow and prepared to spring into action, keeping an eye on the snakes behind him while paying attention to Aria and Cedar.

Looking up at Aria with gratitude, Cedar swallowed hard and tried to speak, his voice coming out in ragged breaths. "Get... back to camp," he coughed, pausing in his speech, "don't worry... about me. Don't.. don't give me that look. Go!" Cedar coughed again, this time spitting blood onto the grass as he turned his head. He weakly reached into his pocket and drew some reed pipes, and began to blow into them.

As soon as Cedar began to play a strange melody, albeit weakly, on his pipes, grass began to spring to life. Adrien heard hisses, and felt his instincts twinge, grabbing Aria by the shoulders and pulling her backwards. Her half-formed exclamation fell short when she looked at the Basiliskos hissing in the spot she had been standing just moments before. She nodded her thanks to Adrien, and rubbed at her eyes quickly.

Adrien followed her gaze to Cedar, who gave them a faint grin, and Aria returned it. "Well, let's go then. Don't just stand there, hurry the hell up!" Despite her sharp words, she refused to make eye contact with Adrien and pointed out a weird-looking pine tree with a... golden thing of wool? Before he could ask what exactly they were running towards, Aria grabbed his sleeve and began to run. It took him a couple of paces to regain his balance and sense of direction, but once he did he ran on his own she let go of his sleeve.

They ran on in silence, Aria occasionally sprinting forward only to stop, turn around and fire an arrow. Her arrows always hit their mark. Adrien followed a couple of paces behind, still using the borrowed arrow as a weapon. It was covered in grime from the snake's blood, and also the ashes that they burst into. They were both breathing heavily, and the snakes kept coming.

They continued to back up the hill, trying to fight the snakes back at the same time. Aria stepped past the golden wool, and sighed. Adrien glanced back, "won't these things just follow us?"

With a sigh, Aria, grabbed his shirt again and pulled him past the tree. Adrien lost his balance and fell on his backside, looking up at the Basiliskos that tried to spring after him, only to see it hit an invisible barrier and dissolve.

"That golden thing? That's the Golden Fleece. It protects this place from monsters," Aria explained, standing behind Adrien trying to catch her breath. "They can't enter. That's what makes this such a safe place."

Taking a deep breath, he stood up and turned around to face Aria. "So," he began, "what exactly IS this place-"

Adrien stopped abruptly, and jumped backwards, banging into the tree. He raised the arrow that was still in his hand, and narrowed his eyes, which took on a weird light. Though they were tensed, they also betrayed alarm. He was crouched, ready to either jump into a fight or run- he couldn't decide which. "The _hell _is that?" He directed the question to Aria, his voice low and tense.

Aria looked alarmed at his sudden reaction, and quickly spun around, looking at the large monster in fear for a moment before laughing. "Thomas, you really should stop doing this to new campers."

The... Minotaur lowered it's twin swords, which disappeared into it's hands. It laughed, a deep sound which turned into that of a teenage boy as a burst of smoke enveloped the area. When Adrien could see again, he saw a black-haired boy with glasses that was around his age. The boy stopped and rubbed his temples, giving Aria a pained look.

Aria shook her head at the boy, but walked forward and murmured another chant. Soon, the boy straighted up and thanked her, whatever pain he had felt in his head gone. He laughed again, and stuck his hands in his jean pockets. "Hey, sorry to scare you like that. I just happened to be in the middle of an experiment, and I couldn't resist."

Adrien slowly straightened up, unwilling to relax until he was sure the threat had passed. Aria rolled her eyes at him, "oh come on, he doesn't bite. Most of the time."

Thomas laughed lightly, "sorry man, I didn't think you'd be so edgy." He ran a hand through his already messy black hair before adding, "I'm not going to do anything else, feel free to calm down."

After a minute, Adrien straightened up, and a moment latter handed the arrow back to Aria, who stuck it back in her quiver. The cold spark in his dark blue eyes faded, and Adrien shook his head a bit to clear the fog in his head that had made him feel weird through the entire encounter. He blinked a couple times before shaking his head again, this time in response to Thomas. "No- I don't know why I reacted like that. Sorry," he offered a small smile, "but you _were_ looking pretty scary."

Giving a smile back, Thomas laughed again, "you're a strange one. Super tense one minute, and super calm the next. So," he began, "I'm Thomas. And you are... ?"

Before Adrien had a chance to respond, another girl trotted up. She wore a heavy-looking white snow coat with a fur lining around the hood, and had chocolate colored hair. Her gray-brown eyes were cold looking, but she didn't speak with a cold tone. More of a polite, yet cool one. "Thomas, don't leave your clothes lying around," she tossed Thomas a white lab coat, and turned to Aria. "Is he new? There's a small meeting going on now, I came to get Thomas. Bring him."

Without another word, the girl turned around again and walked back in the direction she came. Aria sighed, "that was Alice. She's always like that, don't be offended." She glanced over to see Thomas fumble with the coat for a moment before putting it on. "We should get going. You can introduce yourself there."

"Wait. One thing first," Thomas glanced around before following Aria as she began to walk away from Adrien, "where's Cedar? I haven't seen him. Wasn't he the one who you were working with?"

Turning around slightly, Aria only looked at Thomas briefly before turning around again. "He didn't make it," was her curt reply.

Deciding not to push her, Thomas slowly nodded before continuing, walking until he disappeared over the crest of the hill. Aria took a deep breath before beginning to walk again, turning around as she did so. "Well? Come on. You really don't want to be late."


	3. OO3: Meetings and More Questions

Sorry this took so long! I had no motivation. But a certain someone bugged me enough, so I kept writing. Please continue to read and review! It means a lot to me! More OCs will be introduced later on. Also, there will be opportunities to submit "villain" OCs later on as well! Keep an eye out! Also, if you have any tips on how to write your character better, please tell me!

**I own nothing but my OC, Adrien. I don't mean any offence in this chapter! ;;**

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><p>The door to the large house at the top of the hill was just swinging shut as Adrien and Aria approached. Apparently, Thomas had a large head start on them.<p>

Aria walked up to the door, stepping on the porch leading up to the door hard, making her presence known. As she neared the door, she threw it open without caring that it banged against the side of the house and walked through quickly, allowing the door to swing back just as fast, nearly hitting Adrien as he attempted to follow. Pushing the door away (more gently than Aria), he followed into the house, a sense of apprehension tugging on the edge of his consciousness. Like there was something strange in the house.

During his musings, he followed Aria blindly, not really paying much attention. The sound of voices made him look up and stop himself from nearly colliding with Aria. "... JUST BECAUSE IT'S MY FRIGGING LAST NAME DOESN'T MEAN YOU CAN JUST GO AND-"

"Hahaha! It really matches you!" Obviously, an argument was going on inside the room. Two male voices were coming from the other side of the door, one yelling and obviously upset, and the other edging the first on.

The first voice blared through the door again, "OH YEAH? A FULL BODY CAST MATCHES YOU PRETTY WELL. WANNA TRY-"

Aria, who had paused outside of the room, suddenly threw that door open in the same manner as the first one. The room fell quiet, but the tension didn't lift. " Okay, what in Hades is going on in here! " The two boys, one with redish - orangeish hair and one with obviously dyed blue hair were glaring (well, the red haired one was; the blue haired one was just laughing) at each other from across the table. Thomas was sitting off to the side, watching with interest and laughing. Alice was standing, leaning against the wall and looking on, seeming mildly amused.

"Oh, Aria," the red haired boy said, looking a little less angry as he addressed her, "nothing much. Except that _he,_" the male jabbed a finger at the blue haired boy, tone growing angry again, "decided that I should be a frigging ginger and dyed my hair last night while I was asleep."

The blue haired boy laughed again, "but it _is _your last name. Shouldn't you live up to it? C'mon, have some pride in your heritage, man!"

The scraping of metal was heard as the red head drew a bronze sword. The room's atmosphere tensed even more. "Jesse," Aria warned, "stop, it's not worth it. Plus, it _does _suit you." She half laughed at the second part of her sentence.

Suddenly, the door on the other side of the room opened, and a man in a wheelchair with a blanket covering his legs rolled in. "Yes, Damon, don't aggravate Jesse any further. He's gone through enough today. And you, Jesse, try not to destroy my house. Your hair will grow back, or you can ask someone to help you. I'm sure an Aphrodite camper would be more than willing to help you out with your problem."

Jesse grumbled something and looked down, sheathing his sword and grudgingly sitting down. Damon, however, chuckled and began again, "problem? Since when was not having a s-" ** but he was cut short by Aria swatting his head, making him nearly fall out of his chair.

The man in the wheelchair cleared his throat, "thank you, Aria. Now, I don't know if any of you have even noticed, but we have a newcomer."

Adrien glanced around the room, noticing a girl with black hair he hadn't seen before. She was sitting off to the side, watching the whole event unfold mildly. As the wheelchair bound man brought their attention to Adrien, she looked up and gave him a small smile. The man began again, "as some of you may or may not know, this is Adrien." Adrien glanced at him with a confused look. He laughed a bit in response, "silly me, I didn't introduce myself. I'm Chiron, the activities director at this camp."

After hesitating for a moment, Adrien accepted this with a nod. The girl with black hair spoke up, "I'm Alexandra, but just call me Alexa. Everyone does." Adrien nodded again, this time in confirmation. Alexa continued, "you're surprisingly calm. It's kinda weird." She spoke in a light tone, and Adrien knew that she didn't mean any offence.

He just shrugged lightly, not really knowing what to say. "Nothing really surprises me," he said.

"Chiron," Aria began quietly, "he doesn't have any memory past this morning." Adrien looked up in surprise; how did Aria know that? She noticed his look and sighed a little, continuing. "Cedar told me that he was sick, but otherwise normal last night, and this morning when I saw him he was really .. weird. No offence," she glanced at him, "but he, that is, you, just took a basiliskos attack like it was a common occurrence. Not to mention that before now, you've never shown any sort of battle training. And the sudden change in personality … "

Chiron frowned, "that's odd. We'll have to examine him later, but speak of Cedar, where is he? I can't imagine he would like to miss out on showing Adrien around, memories or not."

"..." Aria glanced away, her eyes shielded by her brown hair, mostly the blond curls in front, "he's gone. Didn't make it." She said curtly, bitterness seeping into her voice.

The room became still, and everyone looked down, not sure what to say. They all felt bad for Aria, be it out of sympathy for her loss or mourning for Cedar. Adrien just glanced out the window, feeling a bit guilty. His eyes wandered to the cloudy sky and stayed there for a moment before looking back at the other people.

Silence reigned for another few heartbeats until Alice spoke up for the first time, "you mean you don't know _anything_ about yourself?" Her tone was a bit colder than he had heard the first time, and had a bit of an edge.

After a moment, Adrien nodded. "Nothing," he said, "but I feel kind of weird, like I'm .. sick or something."

Frowning, Aria took a step and closed the distance between them. She put the back of her hand up to his forehead, "uhm .. it looks like you have a fever." She paused for a minute, then her eyes widened, "actually, scratch that, you're burning up! That's pretty dangerous. Alice, do you mind?"

With a small nod, Alice turned to look at Adrien, and a chill passed through the room. Damon, Jesse, Alexa, Aria, Thomas and Chiron shivered, but it felt pretty good to Adrien. Alice didn't even take notice of it. Her winter coat probably helped. Aria stepped away from Adrien, and Damon pipped up, "so, claimed or unclaimed?"

Adrien cast a confused glance at Aria, who seemed to understand the question, and answered. "Unclaimed, as far as we know. If his parent already claimed him, they'll have to do it again."

Jesse spoke next, "well, that sucks for them. Did you explain what we do here?"

"Not yet," Aria said, and turned to Chiron, who handed her a brochure. She handed it to Adrien, who looked at it weirdly.

Thomas, who had been quiet for a while, laughed a bit, "I still don't see why we have that. It's not really something we're going to advertise to the general population." Aria just shrugged, but nodded, looking like she agreed. "Anyway," he said, putting his feet up on the table everyone was sitting (or standing) around, "let me formally welcome you to Camp Half-Blood."

Adrien, who had finished reading the brochure (which detailed basket weaving, swordplay, capture the flag and the Greek gods and goddesses among other things), hesitated, then nodded. "So .. if I'm here, then one of my parents is a god or goddess?"

Alexa cut in, looking at him in the eyes, "okay, this has been bugging me for a while. You're too calm. It's unnatural." She frowned a bit, "I mean, it's probably better than freaking out, but it's weirding me out."

"I noticed that too," Thomas contributed, "he was all tense earlier, and then all calm."

Adrien didn't really know how to respond, but Chiron cut in before he could, "it reminds me of the heroes I used to train. Odd .. it probably has something to do with the memory loss if he wasn't like this before." He glanced expectantly at Aria.

"No .. He was never like this," she said, "he used to be pretty upbeat, friendly and positive. It's like he's a whole different person."

"Well," Alexa said, clapping her hands together, "now that we've got the basics down, maybe we should go? I know that only about half of the senior members are here, but Damon, you need to show Adrien to the Hermes cabin."

Jesse rolled his eyes, "good luck with that guy," he said to Adrien, jabbing a thumb at Damon, "you'll need it."

Chairs scrapped against the floor as Alexa, Thomas, Jesse and Damon got up. Adrien looked confused; why Damon, and why the Hermes cabin? Thomas spoke up, noticing the look of confusion. "Oh, right, you probably didn't know. Damon is the son of Hermes, who takes in all unclaimed kids until they're claimed. So you'll be staying with him and his siblings." He smiled a bit, "they're not that bad once you get to know them, but keep an eye on your stuff." Almost as an afterthought, he continued, "right, you're probably curious. I'm the son of Hecate, Alexa's dad is Eros, Jesse's mom is Nike, Alice's mom is Kihone and Aria's dad is Apollo."

"Hey," Alexa said, in a friendly way, "we could've introduced our own parents."

Thomas shrugged with a smile, "sorry, I was on a roll."

"Well then," Chiron said, "you'd best get going. I'll start arranging something for Cedar, but in the meantime, Damon, can you go show Adrien around? Maybe take Alice. Aria, can you go check on the medics? You're a senior camper after all. And I assume Thomas will go along. That's fine, just don't run around drawing too much blood." He laughed a bit, and Thomas scratched the back of his head sheepishly. "I know you use it for your experiments, but patients aren't always in the best shape to have blood drawn. And Alexa, will you help Jesse with his hair problem? Try to keep him from going after Damon, will you?"

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><p>** No offense to any gingers. I love you guys. :3<p>

Once again, thanks for reading! See you soon!


	4. OO4: The Funeral & an Arrow to the Knee

You guys might have noticed that I updated my story last night. Sorry about that, I didn't mean to do that. D:

Hey everyone! Here's another chapter, sorry for the wait! By the way, I'm not done introducing OCs yet, so please keep submitting! What do you guys think of the switching perspectives? Like it, or is it confusing?

Please read and review! :D

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><p>"... And that over there is the pavilion, where Chiron makes announcements and we eat. Right now, there are flags because capture the flag is coming up soon but there's been some fighting about who should be the leading teams," Damon explained.<p>

Adrien nodded, "okay, but why are those five cabins empty?"

Alice spoke this time, "children of Zeus, Poseidon and Hades are rare. We have one or two of them, but we don't see them much." She then gestured to the next cabins, "Hera is the goddess of marriage, and didn't procreate. Artemis vowed to be a virgin forever."

Throughout Alice's entire explanation, her voice didn't change from it's cool detachedness. Adrien nodded slowly, then fell silent as he looked around again. Fields, demigods training or socializing, and a lot more cabins surrounding the main ones. He assumed they were for the minor gods and goddesses.

"Well," Damon said after a moment, "I'll show you to the Hermes cabin now. We can get you settled in."

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><p>"Okay, you're all healed," Aria gave her patient (a really muscular boy from the Ares cabin who had managed to trip and fall on his own spear) a small smile then turned away without waiting for his response.<p>

Across the room, Thomas was drawing blood from a particularly chatty Aphrodite camper. Aria could see him grimace and attempt to keep up his laughing, but the girl started talking about things that were way too personal. Deciding to save him, Aria called him over, "hey Thomas, you done? I think we've gotten to everyone."

Thomas did a good job of not rushing, and politely waved good-bye to the girl before walking away. Aria smiled once they were out of earshot, "do I want to know?"

"Aha, probably not," Thomas said, laughing, "she decided to tell me her .. thoughts on every male in this camp. Luckily I left before she got to anyone I know well."

"Did she tell you her thoughts on you?"

"Uhh... " Thomas coughed slightly, "well, she, uh, … yeah. She did."

Aria laughed, "well, you going to tell me?"

That made Thomas coughed again, harder, as if to try to stop feeling embarrassed. "Erm... she thinks that, uh, I have nice eyes and .. that, uh .. well .."

Luckily for Thomas, Chiron wheeled up to them before he was pressed to continue. "Aria," he began in a solemn voice, "we need to make arrangements for Cedar. Can you tell me exactly what happened?"

Aria inhaled deeply, her mirth fading. Thomas gave her an understanding nod, then patted her shoulder before walking away, raising the same hand in farewell.

* * *

><p>Adrien was told to meet Chiron in the forest for Cedar's memorial. He found Chiron in full centaurji form ( he had been informed that Chiron was <em>the <em>Chiron from the ancient Greek myths ) standing in front of a large hedge. With a solemn look upon his face, Chiron silently turned towards the hedge, touching a small white flower that grew alone. All of a sudden, the hedge opened up to a beautiful grove. The grove was small and enclosed but it was still breath taking. There was a small clear water pond with beautiful flowers and vines growing around it.

Near the entrance stood Alexa, who motioned for Adrien to come closer. "You see that pile of dirt with plants around it?" Adrien nodded aftetr scanning the grove for the pile. "The dirt that you see there is the same dirt Cedar died on. We don't have his body or anything, he basically went poof and gone. There's a picture of Cedar and his favorite reed pipes on it."

She was standing off to the side, but looked ready to move into the crowd of people. Alexa took in a deep, shuddering breath before waiting a moment. She and Adrien stood silently, looking at the makeshift grave and watching the occasional demigod walk up to it and say something quietly. After a while, she nodded to Adrien before moving closer to comfort her friends.

Seeing Aria off to the side, Adrien approached her. "Hey," he said quietly, "I'm sorry."

Aria looked up from the ground and just nodded before turning her attention away. Suddenly, she looked back at him, frowning slightly. "This is going to sound weird … but your eyes look lighter blue than they were before." After a moment, she shrugged, blaming it on her ADHD.

Chiron blew a conch shell, a low melancholy noise. After a minute, he put it down and turned to the gathered demigods. "My friends," he he began, "today we are here to honor the memory of our brave companion, Cedar McGoogan."

A whisper came from Adrien's other side, from an unidentifiable source, "that's his last name?"

Ignoring the interruption, Chrion continued, "as we all know, Cedar was a kind satyr and a true friend. Today he bravely defended Aria and Adrien from a basliskos attack, allowing them to safely come back to camp." He paused for a moment, "now that you have all had a chance to say goodbye, we will conclude with an opportunity for anyone who would like to say something about him. Please step forward if you would like to say something..."

* * *

><p>The aftermath of the funeral was a quiet sadness that seemed to affect the camp. Except for a few campers, who stayed out of their way. And, of course, someone had to bring up the capture the flag issue.<p>

"No you dumb sunshine nut, _we'll_lead a capture the flag team!"

"What, jealous because your cabin is full of the unclaimed and the misfits? At least we don't have to keep a hand on our stuff all the time!"

"Ugh, you gay -"

"HEY!" Aria approached from one side and walked right up to her yelling sibling. "GODS, WHAT'S WRONG WITH YOU GUYS?"

The opposing Hermes camper gritted his teeth at her, "it's just like you cowards to call your cabin leader for help! This is why we'll never win if you guys lead!"

From behind him, Damon walked up looking annoyed. "Dude, shut up! We'll also never win if you guys keep being dicks to each other!"

The two campers who had been fighting first ignored their senior's advice and drew their weapons. The Apollo camper drew a bow and arrow from a pin attached to his shirt, and the Hermes camper took off his gloves and they turned into twin daggers. The area was silent for a moment, then exploded into activity. Insults were thrown as were weapons. Rhymes (some terribly bad) were yelled form the Apollo side. Daggers and the like were thrown from the Hermes side, as well as some insults combing swear words incredibly creatively.

Getting even more annoyed, Damon tried to step in. "GUYS, SERIOUSLY, ST-"

A sickening _thunk_ caused him to abruptly stop and fall to the ground will a yell of pain. A stray arrow from the Apollo side hit him- right in the knee.

Aria was at his side right away, already murmuring a chant to ease his pain. One of Damon's brothers knelt next to Aria at his side, a red head, and asked, "you okay?"

Damon rolled his eyes, only replying with, "I used to be a ginger like you, until I took and arrow to the knee."

Aria managed a small smile before replying, "you were never a ginger, Damon."

"How do you know?"

"I helped you dye your hair," Aria rolled her eyes as she explained, "I'm pretty sure I know your true hair color."

Damon laughed sheepishly before relaxing and lying down on the grass. Sweat beaded his forehead from the shock of getting shot with an arrow, but it didn't hurt so much any more. Aria sighed. "Well .. I can't do much more. We have to get you to the infirmary." She glanced around, then gestured to Adrien, who was just running up to meet her, as he had been asked to stay behind and talk to Chiron. "Adrien, help me carry him. I'll fill you in on the details on the way."

After Aria had explained the recent events to Adrien, he took it in quietly and continued to support Damon as they half carried and half dragged him to the infirmary. "Wait," he said, "you said capture the flag. What do you mean?"

"So basically, all the campers are split up into two teams. Then those teams choose a cabin to be their leader for that game, which is what that argument was about. Unfortunately, Damon getting shot in the knee with an arrow was the outcome." Aria let out a disappointed sigh.

Damon raised his then resting head towards Adrien, "as you can see, it can get pretty intense." Both Damon and Aria chuckled a bit before getting silent again.

After a few seconds of silence Aria got back to explaining capture the flag. "Well after splitting up into teams, each team picks a side of the forest. They will put their team flag nearby on that side, and they would be required to capture the opposing team's flag. Which is on the other side of the forest."

Adrien nodded his head while carefully listening to the description of the game. "Then, the entire forest fair play? What marks the start of each team's side?"

"Yup, the entire forest is fair play and there is a river that runs along the middle of the forest. That river marks the boundary between the two sides. All magic items are allowed but not all weapons are allowed. T-" Aria was cut off by Damon who decided to add to what she was saying.

"Uh, I think you missed a big piece of information, Aria."

"Really? Like what?"

"Uhh," Damon shifted his attention to Adrien, "the forest is full of monsters like the basiliskos you have met earlier today... Just, less powerful. That's why we play capture the flag so often. It's a great opportunity to get real fighting experience, opposed to jabbing a straw dummy with a sword." Damon stopped to see the reaction on Adrien's face, but there was nothing.

Aria stifled a laugh and looked at Adrien, "Sorry for all of this information, capture the flag is one of the things the campers take seriously. Since you're in the Hermes cabin, you'll be on my team. We usually go over the standard rules before hand, so don't worry."

Adrien nodded slowly. "Makes sense .. I think."

"Yeah, it's something you understand once you do it," Damon added, "don't worry, I'm sure - AUGH!"

The temporary painkilling spell Aria had used has worn off, and Damon was feeling the arrow in his knee again. With a worried glance, she and Adrien exchanged a silent agreement and walked towards the infirmary faster. "Can you do that pain-thing again?" Adrien asked as they walked quickly.

"No," Aria said, "if it wears off, I can't do it unless the person gets a different injury!"

Adrien silently nodded, and then looked up from the ground to see a healer run out of the infirmary and towards them. It was one of Aria's siblings, identified as a healer by her nurse's hat. She quickly ran over and looked at Damon, then called backwards for help. A moment later, a couple other healers came running out and took Damon from Aria and Adrien. With a shared glance, they quickly followed the healers and Damon into the infirmary, hoping he would be okay.


	5. OO5: Preparation

Hey everyone! I know it's been forever and a day since I updated, but uh .. better late than never? ;;8D

Like I said last chapter, I'm not done introducing OCs. RIGHT NOW, I NEED A COUPLE GIRLS AND SOME ANTAGONISTS. I know I haven't introduced the actual plot yet, but feel free to submit anyway. I'll be accepting OCs throughout the entire story, and some characters may die or disappear. Should that happen to your character, you can submit another. (You can also PM me if you want to change anything about your character or just chat. I'm not always available to talk, but I'll respond when I can!)

I really hope I did everyone's characters okay. D:

I own nothing but my own OCs. Please read and review! I love feedback, and reviews are what inspire me to keep writing. ~

If I've mentioned your character in any way, shape or form already, I'd love it if you told me how I was doing with them.

* * *

><p>"So, you're sure your knee is better?"<p>

"I'm sure, I'm sure, stop worrying."

"Fine," came Alexa's good natured reply, a friendly smile on her face as she patted Damon's shoulder. She stared at him, right in the eyes, and held her gaze for a moment.

"Oh come on," Damon said, rolling his eyes and breaking their gaze, "I'm telling you the truth, no need to do your empathy link thingy to check."

With a laugh, Alexa apologized to her friend, "sorry, just making sure."

Footsteps quickly approaching the two, who were sitting on the porch of the big house, caused them both to look up. Thomas walked towards them quickly, and Alice trailed behind, walking calmly. "Hey, did you hear?" Thomas asked, searching their faces for any sort of answer.

"No?"

"About what?"

They answered simultaneously, and Thomas grinned, "the teams for capture the flag, of course!" That got their attention, and both teens gave Thomas their undivided attention. "Well, because of that incident with Damon and the arrow, the Apollo cabin isn't allowed to lead this time. So that means you're the leader!"

Damon looked surprised, but it quickly faded into a smile. "Great! We're totally going to win," he said confidently.

"Don't be so sure of that," Alice jumped in, her voice even but her expression serious, "Ryder's leading the other team."

The little group fell into silence that was broken when Damon sighed, "well, looks like it'll be a challenge." His sigh turned into a grin, "but we can beat him, I know we can! Did they announce the final teams assignments?"

"Yep," Thomas nodded, "on your team you've got your cabin, obviously, Apollo, Ares, Athena, Kihone, and Hecate. On the other side, there's Erebos, Demeter, Poseidon, Hephaestus, Aphrodite, Nike, and Eros." He paused for a breath and then continued, "and the rest of the minor cabins have split themselves up, but there are only one or two people in each cabin, and most of them are new."

Damon nodded, his expression thoughtful. "Okay, I've got some pretty good cabins. Ryder has a big three, but they also have Aphrodite. I think we might do just fine."

"But still," Alice said, "you need to be careful and watch out for the people on their team. Some, like Ryder can be a problem. Try to stay away from the water too."

Thomas nodded his head, "I agree. We all have to be careful. It would be wise to not get cocky," he looked at Damon, "or ahead of ourselves. Look, there's Aria and Adrien."

Surely enough, the two walked up to the pavilion and greeted everyone. Well, Aria did most of the greeting. Adrien simply raised his hand as a "hello."

"Hey, you didn't get Adrien settled in yet, did you?" Aria asked, her question directed at Damon.

"Oh, no, not yet," he said, just remembering. "We were sidetracked with the fight earlier. Sorry about that. Well, if you're ready, we can go get you a spot in the cabin now."

Adrien nodded, "sure."

"Well then," Thomas said, "there are preparations to be made for capture the flag tonight. Alice, Alexa, you two want to come with me to help?" With a nod in response from both of them, the three bid farewell and left in the direction of the cabins.

Damon stood slowly, but once on his feet, reached up in a stretch. "Don't overdo it," Aria said cautiously.

"Like I told Alexa, I'm fine," Damon said lightly. "Now, let's get going."

"Here's the stuff you'll need to survive at camp," the Hermes boy said in mock seriousness, handing Adrien a small bag of essentials. "And here," he pointed to a spot on the floor against the corner of the cabin, "is your spacious abode."

"Damon!" Another Hermes camper said, rolling her eyes at him. She glanced at Adrien, "don't worry, it's not _that_bad here. Just keep an eye on your stuff." With that, she left the cabin after waving at them good naturedly.

Suddenly, an Athena camper ran up to the door and glanced inside, relieved to see Damon and Aria. "Good, you two are here! We're making a strategy in our cabin, and we need the cabin leaders to come. Especially you, Damon."

"Sure thing," he said, and then glanced at Adrien, "you should head over to the arena and get a weapon of some sort. You'll need it." He waited until Adrien nodded, and then rushed out of the cabin with Aria.

* * *

><p>The arena was only a short distance from the cabins, and it wasn't hard to spot. Adrien had his hands relaxed in his pockets, and he glanced up at the big building with dark blue eyes. He blinked once, and his eyes briefly turned lighter aqua, and then were back to the previous deep blue. A confused look spread across his face at the strange sensation, and then he brushed it off.<p>

"Hey!" A friendly male voice called from the other side of the arena. Adrien looked over to see a guy around his height with dark brown hair waving him over. The guy had some golden beads hanging on his hair that fell on the left side of his face. "You must be Adrien, right? I'm Caius."

Adrien nodded, but still looked a little confused, "yeah .. how do you know my name?"

"Haha, everyone knows when someone new comes in. You've had a tour of camp already - or some of it at least, and you've probably seen most of the people here some way or another." Caius grinned, "besides, with capture the flag tonight, I figured you'd come at some point to get a weapon."

"About that," Adrien scratched the back of his head, "could you help me find one?"

"Nope," Caius said, grin still on his face, "I'm Hephaestus, you're Hermes - for now at least - so we'll be fighting tonight." He paused a minute, taking in Adrien's awkward expression, and then started laughing, "nah, I'm kidding, man. I'll help you find something. Let's go to the armory."

* * *

><p>"Here; try this one first."<p>

Caius handed Adrien a medium length sword, made of celestial bronze like everything else in the room, and he took it. The blade was an okay length, but it felt .. wrong in Adrien's hands. It seemed a little weird, and he switched between holding it with two hands and with one hand a couple times before shaking his head. "It doesn't feel right."

Nodding with understanding, Caius showed Adrien a longsword, a broadsword, and a thin short sword. "Alright, then we'll start with the broadsword. I don't think this'll be the right sword for you, because usually really strong Ares campers use these, but you never know." Adrien reached for the hilt of the heavy sword, and his eyes widened. The sword's tip embedded itself into the ground - it was too heavy. The boy coughed once and tried again. A small panic was growing - wasn't he stronger than this?

Frowning, Caius stepped forward and took the broadsword from Adrien. "Don't try too hard; you just got to camp. Give it a while, you'll be able to hold it in no time. Next, try the longsword." Said sword was about the same width as the medium sized sword, but longer, hence the name. Adrien held it with two hands, raising it and lowering it, and shook his head. It was too heavy. "Okay, now this one. If that's not right, then we've got a ton of other things, like daggers, spears, throwing knives, you name it." Caius handed Adrien the short sword, and Adrien smiled unconsciously.

The blade felt … better by far in his hand. But as he held it in his left hand, his right hand felt empty. The same happened when he switched. Caius noticed, and fished around for the blade's twin. When he found it and handed it to Adrien, the latter swung the two blades experimentally. "This feels good. But they're still a little .. off." He frowned slightly, unsure of what the word was to describe the problem.

Apparently Caius was used to vague instructions, and he disappeared into the section with knives and daggers, and came back with two long daggers. "Try these, then. They're lighter and thinner, but they'll still get the job done."

"Thanks," Adrien said as he exchanged the two short swords for the daggers. Almost right away he could feel the difference. They still didn't feel perfectly comfortable, but they were by far the closest. "These feel the best so far," he said to Caius, who smiled.

"Then here; take the sheaths. I'll find you a belt before tonight and get it to you before the game starts." Adrien thanked him, and the other boy just laughed, "don't worry about it. I'm probably the only Hephaestus kid who doesn't make weapons, so I'm just glad I'm able to be useful here."

Before Adrien could comment on the statement or question it, a girl with medium length brown hair entered the armory. "Caius? I was looking all over for you." She paused, noticing Adrien, but nodded in greeting, "the bracelet you made me is malfunctioning again; could you help me with it? I'd like to use it tonight."

Adrien didn't miss Caius' smile at the girl's entrance, "sure thing. Tessa, this is Adrien. Adrien, this is Tessa." Adrien nodded back to the girl, Tessa, and then glanced over at Caius again. "Sorry I have to cut it short, but I'll find you that belt before tonight."

"Sure. Thanks again."

"No worries, you can practice on those straw dummies in the arena if you want to get used to your weapons before tonight," Caius explained, and then walked over to Tessa's side, exiting the armory with her. They both waved a short goodbye to Adrien, and he noticed them walking away side-by-side, standing pretty close as Caius examined the bracelet in question.

* * *

><p>After spending an hour or so getting used to the sword (which was a really weird experience in the first place; Adrien's body felt weak, but he alternated from feeling comfortable wielding blades and feeling like he had never touched a sharp object before) Adrien hastily showered and returned to the Hermes cabin. He noticed Damon staring intently at a simplified map of camp, absently twirling a dagger between his fingers. The rest of the Hermes cabin was there too, either chatting, comparing recently stolen items, or getting whatever weapons they owned ready (most were daggers or the like, though some had weird items that must have been concealing something).<p>

When Adrien began to walk towards his spot on the floor, a guy on a top bunk laughed down at him, "hey, the new kid made it before the conch. It's already seven, dinner's soon." A couple other campers laughed with him, but Adrien brushed it off since it didn't really bother him.

"Oh, hey," the girl he had briefly met when Damon got him settled in spoke up, "Caius told me to give this to you."

She tossed a worn leather belt down to Adrien, who caught it deftly. "Thanks," he said, and strapped the belt around his waist. The two sheathed daggers fit snugly in the loops provided on the belt.

Just then, what Adrien guessed was the conch shell sounded. Damon was the first one to react, and quickly jumped up and shoved the map into his pocket, and his dagger disappeared somewhere in his clothes. "Gonna get some action in with that thrusting dagger, Damon?" Someone called from the other side of the cabin, getting most of the cabin to laugh.

"It's called a _dirk_," Damon grinned, "but yeah, I'm really excited to unsheathe this little guy and get some action." This time, the entire cabin laughed (save for Adrien, a couple girls, and a guy). "Whatever guys," he continued, walking to the front of the cabin. Some campers started lining up already, "we're going to be late to dinner at this rate. Fall in!"


End file.
